


and i think it's gonna be a long, long time

by bananaquit



Category: Gattaca (1997)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, M/M, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-04-08 01:55:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14094498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bananaquit/pseuds/bananaquit
Summary: "Don't leave." said Eugene.





	and i think it's gonna be a long, long time

**Author's Note:**

> tw for suicide
> 
> title is from the song "rocket man" by elton john

“Don’t leave.”

Eugene’s words were so soft it was practically a whisper. Vincent had never heard him talk like that; his voice was quiet, desperate. The plea was barely audible and Vincent was unsure if he’d even heard it right. He paused in the doorway and turned back to look at his friend. Eugene’s eyes were shining with moisture and his eyelids were twitching, trying to keep from blinking so that he wouldn’t send tears spilling down his face. As long as they didn’t overflow, he could say he wasn’t crying.

It was a sight so surreal Vincent didn’t entirely process it, too overwhelmed to reply at all for a moment. Those two words were a lot more than he could deal with right now. It seemed entirely out of character for Eugene to want to turn back now, but he didn’t have time to dwell on it, no time for the kind of conversation those two words would surely open up. He didn’t have time for second thoughts, not when he’d come this far.

“No. Eugene. I can’t.” Vincent shook his head, letting out a breath through a disbelieving smile. “I can’t. I have to go.” Maybe if Eugene hadn’t waited until the last possible moment, things would have been different, but as it was, his schedule didn’t allow for a resolution. He couldn’t be late for his dream, his destiny.

Eugene didn’t try to stop him again. It’d taken every ounce of both his cowardice and his bravery to muster up the humility to ask him to stay. He had a lot left to say, but nothing left to argue with. _You’re the only thing I’ve got left_ , he didn’t say. _I’m afraid of what I’m going to do to myself when you’re gone_ , he didn’t say. _I love you_ , he didn’t say. It had been cruel enough to even suggest holding him back now. Vincent was going to the stars where he belonged.

Eugene felt Vincent’s arms wrap around him, but he kept staring numbly past him, eyes unfocused. By the time he snapped out of his daze to return the embrace, Vincent was pulling away and it was too late to rest his head on his shoulder or hug him back. He could feel a phantom sensation where Vincent’s arms had been, but instead of being warm and full, it felt empty and cold.

“I’ll send you a message as soon as we leave Earth’s atmosphere.” Vincent promised, offering a faint, reassuring smile. He paused. “Goodbye, Eugene.”  
  
Somehow, Eugene found the strength to meet his eyes one final time. “Goodbye, Vincent.”

 

* * *

 

Vincent sat on the floor a year later, his back against the cold stainless steel of the refrigerator that contained his identity. The door to the temperature-controlled room where he was sitting was open and cool mist was escaping out onto the floor of the large, open space where Eugene used to prepare samples. Across the room, past the untouched tables of instruments covered in plastic, Vincent could see Eugene’s empty wheelchair next to the incinerator.

Inside the fridge behind Vincent was everything Eugene had left behind, every bit of Jerome Eugene Morrow that Vincent needed to keep up the facade for the rest of his life. He didn’t want it. He didn’t want to _be_ Jerome, he wanted to be _with_ him. Vincent possessed an incomplete picture, a thousand puzzle pieces of his body that could never make a whole. He had Eugene’s blood, his hair, his skin, his DNA... but he didn’t have Eugene.

Vincent put his face in his hands, smearing hot tears against his cold cheeks. He should have told him he loved him.

**Author's Note:**

> the "he didn't want to be him, he wanted to be with him" line was totally Inkblot9's idea


End file.
